A Wayside Love Triangle
by Dedede the Fanfiction Writer
Summary: He didn't think he'd develop a crush on any girl, let alone someone from one of his past classes, but just before the Pre-Spring Break Dance, Todd develops a crush on Jenny, and feels tempted to ask her to a dance he originally never planned on going to. Of course, this attracts the jealousy of Maurecia, who still harbors a crush on Todd after all these years (high school fic).
1. Chapter 1

**Well I'm back making a new fanfiction...yeah for some reason I lost interest in "Re-Entering the Subspace" back at the end of August, but don't worry, I promise I'll continue it at some point, but right now I wanna focus on this new story I came up with about Wayside. I've grown up reading all three Wayside School books and watching the cartoon. This story is mainly based on the cartoon; however, I do plan on including elements from the books in later chapters. With that said, read, review, and enjoy.**

It was a nice, crisp spring day, illuminated by the sun which peeked out through the clouds. Aside from the clouds around the sun, clouds were sparse on this fine day. The birds are singing. Isn't it beautiful?

For many people, the warm sun was what made their day. But for one student, it was only the icing on the cake on what would he would experience within the next three days.

Enter Todd...well, we don't know what his last name, but that doesn't matter. He was a student at John West Secondary School, in the middle of his sophomore year. Except, the wasn't the most interesting part of him, not even close. You see, when he was in primary school, he transferred to Wayside School, a school which can be described as the weirdest school ever. It was 30 stories high, had cows everywhere, and had no 19th story, among other oddities. Todd attended the class on the 30th floor, Mrs. Jewls' class. Overtime (well, at least after an incident with the walls moving), he adapted to the weirdness of his class and the school, but he would almost always get sent home early on the kindergarten bus. No matter how hard he tried to be good, he would almost always slip up three times and could never seem to make it past noon. Only on the rarest occasions did he get lucky and managed to avoid being sent home early, one of those times involved a parent-teacher conference with Mrs. Jewls' dad.

Life at Wayside was made all the more challenging by a roller-skating tomboy named Maurecia, who harbored an obvious crush on him, and would show it by punching him wherever she could. The amount of bruises this young boy received at the hands of her punches was at this point in time uncountable; there were just so many. There might have been even some scars from some of the punches on his arms.

But that was all in the past. Now Todd was a 10th grader, attending a school that was a lot more normal than Wayside School...well, almost. For reasons no one understands, cows also roam this school too. But then again, there have been reports that every school in the area that Todd lives in have cows roaming them.

The only thing that stuck from Wayside with Todd is the students that were in Mrs. Jewls' class. They all attended John West Primary School was well, including Maurecia. Well, almost all. The only student that didn't go to John West Primary School was Myron. In 8th grade, he announced his plans to run for president of the universe. Nobody ever heard from him again.

After all these years, Maurecia still harbored a crush on Todd, however she was able to control her urges to punch Todd better now. The only other notable change to Maurecia is that she didn't wear her roller skates and helmet anymore, and now lets her hair down instead of putting it in a ponytail. Todd, meanwhile, looked mostly the same as he was back at Wayside, just taller, with longer and a darker shade of orange hair, and was slowly starting to grow a pencil mustache.

Todd still knew Maurecia had a crush on him, but unfortunately he still didn't exactly return the same feelings. He was more lax on friendzoning back at Wayside, because relationships really didn't matter back there. But now that they we're in high school, teens we're getting into relationships like crazy, especially since one important event was coming up: the annual Pre-Spring Break Dance. Todd was certain Maurecia would ask him to the dance; she hadn't made any real advances on him for a long time now, and Todd dodged a bullet when Maurecia was unable to go to last year's Pre-Spring Break dance because of an injury, but he knew she was going to ask him out, but he had no idea what to do.

Even being in his sophomore year, Todd hadn't really developed feelings for anyone...yet. He went through his head a list of the female students other than Maurecia that were in Mrs. Jewls' class with him a few years ago. Dana, Bebe, Sharie, Leslie, Rondi...then his mind drew a blank. He knew for sure he was missing student, he just didn't know who. But whoever it may be, he knew he all thought of these girls as just friends. Thankfully, none of them had crushes on him like Maurecia.

The bell rung, signaling the start of school, and Todd made his way to Biology class, the one class he didn't share with Maurecia. He had signed up for the class because he had an interest in many things biology, including the human body, plants, and in particular parasites, viruses, bacteria, fungi, and other organisms that can cause infection. And something interesting was happening today. A new student had just signed up for the class late, and this was her first day in this class.

Todd entered the classroom and took his seat. Among the students he knew from Wayside that were in his class we're Joe, Sharie, John, Stephen, Dana, and the Erics. While waiting for the teacher to arrive during the five-minute warning bell time, he took out his Nintendo Switch and played a bit of _Super Smash Bros. Ultimate_. Then, he put it away as the teacher arrived.

"Class, I'm pleased to announce we have a student who just signed up for this class...well, admittedly late," announced Mr. Perkley, the biology teacher of John West Primary School. Everyone paid attention to the door as this student entered.

"I'd like to introduce Jenny."

Then it hit Todd! That was the one female student he was missing in his list of girls who we're in Mrs. Jewls' class with him. Considering that he rarely ever saw Jenny compared to the other girls due to the two having completely different classes ever since 9th grade, it was understandable.

When Todd got one good look at Jenny, he did something that he hadn't done in a long time, and didn't think he'd ever do again. He blushed...slightly.

Todd was perplexed as to why he was slowly developing an attraction to Jenny, because all the pieces came together. This was the girl who, just a few years ago back at Wayside, once kept jumping over him on her motorcycle, and Todd believed that this was because she had a crush on him. Well, it turned out he was wrong, and made a fool of himself by jumping over Wayside's now-retired principal, Mr. Kidswatter in order to be his own "girlfriend." The only thing he knew for sure about Jenny was that she was still one of Maurecia's best friends, but he didn't really ever see the two hang out. "Maybe they hang out in private," he thought to himself.

Still, Todd was surprised that he developing a small attraction to someone he almost completely forget attended at Wayside with him, but he tried his best to not let anyone know about his developing attraction, and thankfully for the duration of the class nobody ever did notice.

But that didn't stop Todd from thinking about Jenny, especially after Biology class ended and Todd was walking to his next class, Human Geography. Jenny no longer wore her motorcycle helmet and only ever drove her motorcycle outside of the school (because what student drives a motorcycle in school, at least in a normal one like John West Primary School?). Back at Wayside, Todd sat in the back of the class and Jenny sat in the front, so he never really got to see much of what she looked like without her helmet, but now he was able to get a good look at her without her helmet on. He was able to get a glimpse of her beautiful blonde hair, and he had also started to take a liking to her southern accent. Over the years, she had grown a lot taller, in fact she was almost about Todd's height. Her blonde hair had grown a lot longer, and she had a smile that lit up the world.

And for the next few days, Todd will see Jenny in Biology class, and in the cafeteria at lunch, and would blush everytime he saw her. He tried to deny he was developing a crush on someone, and still didn't want to go the Pre-Spring Break Dance, because, other than the fact that he knew Maurecia would ask him to that dance, he wasn't even that good of a dancer to begin with. But as the days went by, his attraction towards Jenny grew stronger, and his blush would become more noticeable; thankfully, nobody noticed it still, but it was only a matter of time before some did.

Then one day, approximately one week before the Pre-Spring Break Dance, he was in the cafeteria playing his Nintendo Switch when Jenny walked through the cafeteria. Todd put down his Switch, took one good look at her and blushed considerably harder than he had previously. This time however, Jenny turned around and saw Todd's blush. It didn't take long for her to figure out that the blush was directed at her, and Todd noticed this.

At this point, Todd blushed the absolute hardest he had blushed in his life. Thankfully, the bell signaling the end of lunch had rung, so he hurried to his next class.

When he got home that day, Todd didn't think much of the incident. He thought Jenny wouldn't even remember it and everything would return to normal. Boy, would he be wrong.


	2. Chapter 2

**Might as well get out another chapter with the spare time I have. I don't exactly know how many chapters this story is going to have, but regardless, enjoy.**

 **THURSDAY, 1 WEEK AND 1 DAY UNTIL THE PRE-SPRING BREAK DANCE**

After the...well, blushing incident...from yesterday, Todd was doing his best to try to forget about everything that happened, but he couldn't, because about a hundred things were running through his mind. What was Jenny's reaction to the situation? Was she creeped out, flattered, disgusted, confused? Did she...like him back?

Todd shook his head at that thought. I mean, what girl would like him back? He didn't think any other girl besides Maurecia would "like" like him, especially if they knew his...hobby that he's been active in for the past year, of whom no one knows about, not even Maurecia.

Todd's regular classes went by pretty quickly. Fortunately, he was able to focus on the work assigned to him instead of constantly on Jenny. When lunch came, to keep his thoughts in check, he brought out his Nintendo Switch and began playing _Super Smash Bros. Ultimate_. He had been playing for about 10 minutes when:

"Hey, Brother T, mind if I sit here?"

Todd recognized that voice, and he definitely recognized who calls her friends slangs like that.

He looked up from his Switch and saw Jenny standing by the empty chair next to him, and blushed, thought thankfully it wasn't as noticeable as yesterday's...incident. "Uh, yeah, sure, go right ahead." he said.

Jenny sat herself down in the empty seat. Todd took one good look at her and tried his hardest not to blush, but nonetheless a red tint of blush managed to leak into both of his cheeks. He was trying his hardest to deny he was developing a crush but at this point it was no use. If he told anyone he wasn't developing feelings for Jenny, they wouldn't believe him. But honestly, could they blame him? Ever since Todd finally got a really good look at how she looked without her motorcycle helmet on, he could see her true beauty. Sure, for some reason, she still wore her motorcycle suit to school everybody...for some reason...but - also for some reason - she looked even more attractive in her motorcycle suit.

But, at the same time, he was worried about what Maurecia would think of this. He knew Maurecia would develop jealously if she saw any girl with him.

Todd took a quick glance of all sides of the cafeteria, looking to see if Maurecia was sitting somewhere. He didn't see her.

"What have you got there, Brother T? The rectangle-shaped thing?" said Jenny.

Todd blushed...again. No one had ever called him Brother T before...not even Jenny.

"Uh...it's called a Nintendo Switch...I got it for Christmas..." Todd managed to say.

"That's real cool! I've been starting to play a couple of games over at my friend Joy's house. I think it was on something called the Wii U. It was real fun."

Todd swore he heard of someone named Joy before, but he couldn't put his finger on it.

"What game you got there, bro T?"

"It's called _Super Smash Bros. Ultimate_."

"I've heard that game is really good! Say...maybe you can let me try it out?" asked Jenny, in a rather sweet voice.

Todd was genuinely surprised by this. Nobody ever asked him if they could try out a game he was playing, like ever. And this was the girl he was develop- no, no. "I'm not developing feelings for Jenny." he thought to himself. "This is just a phase, I'm sure it will pass within a couple days." As he cleared his thoughts, he passed Jenny his Switch, and she began playing the game. Surprisingly, she played to the game for the remainder of lunch.

Unbeknownst to Todd, Maurecia was sitting at the other end of the cafeteria, in a spot that Todd missed when he scanned the cafeteria earlier. When she saw Jenny sit down near Todd, she was getting suspicious, and tried to tune into their conversation the best she could, considering how far she was from the two. She was seeing Jenny play on Todd's...gizmo, or whatever. She didn't know what the rectangle-shaped screen Todd had was. But she knew Jenny was having fun on it. Could it be that...one of them liked the other? Could it mean that one of them was going to ask the other to the upcoming dance? She was starting to get worried, for she had planned to ask Todd to the Pre-Spring Break Dance sometime next week before it happened.

When the bell signaling the end of lunch rang, Jenny got up from her seat and handed Todd's Switch back to him.

"Boy, my friend, you've got real fine taste in games! Man, we've got to hang out sometime together, Brother T!" said Jenny.

Todd blushed, once again. No one had ever asked if they could hang out in the future in a long while, not even Maurecia, surpisingly enough.

"Well, my friend, I'll see you tomorrow!" exclaimed Jenny again.

"Bye..." Todd said. He slowly got up from his chair and walked to his next class. He sure had a lot of things on his mind now.

* * *

Todd's next two classes went by fairly smoothly, and after the day ended he immediately headed to his room, sat down on his chair, and got on to his computer.

As he was booting up his computer, millions of thoughts ran through his head. He didn't know why all of a sudden Jenny wanted to sit next to him, let alone suggest hanging out with him in the future. "Was it...that Jenny saw the blush and knew it was because I was- NO! No! I'm NOT developing feelings for her, it's JUST a phase!" he thought to himself. He was sure it would pass eventually...hopefully before the Pre-Spring Break Dance. He didn't exactly want to go to that dance. He wasn't even a very good dancer anyways.

As he was thinking to himself, he saw a notification on the online gaming engine he uses the most, Steam. It was a message from one of his friends.

"hey dude there's this really cool thing happening on casuarina, everyone's having a blast, you should join" - ObiWan2, 3:57 PM

Now that he was home, alone by himself, and with his parents still at work, Todd showed no hesitation in joining the bandwagon.

You see, Todd was a server administrator for _CoolGamerz Jailbreak_ , a community server on the multiplayer first-person shooter Team Fortress 2. He had been an admin for the past year. It was a job that greatly required leadership qualities, which Todd had shown he had those skills in the past. So one day he sent in an application, and to his surprise, he was accepted.

But Todd swore to never tell his peers at school about his hobby. He didn't know of anyone besides him that had a hobby like this, and was afraid he'd get mocked for having an administrative job...on a video game. He thought that kids would think you were cool if you we're an administrator, except if it was for a video game. But then again, maybe they would think we was pretty cool anyways, he thought. But he was sure it wasn't likely.

He logged on to Team Fortress 2, under his Steam name "TheToddster179", and joined the server.

[***ADMIN***] TheToddster179: so what's this cool new thing i'm hearing about?  
[***Senior Mod***] ObiWan2: it's this really funny thing on this map, there's a glitch in box game where you can shoot the boxes if you have a ranged weapon, it's so good  
[***ADMIN***] TheToddster179: what, why have i never heard of this glitch, lol  
[***ADMIN***] Jeffrey: idk but it's so much fun  
[***Mod***] Tomothi93: boxes are all the map its so crazy  
[***VET***] Crazydude12: omg so many boxes!

Now, in Jailbreak, there are two teams, Guards and Prisoners. The prisoners are stripped down to their melee weapons and locked away in the cells at the beginning of the round, while the guards must instruct them on what to do. One of the guards is the "warden", who instructs the prisoners to do whatever minigame he desires, as long as it follows the rules of the server. The prisoners compete in the minigame for last request, which comes in the form of variety of different effects and perks. A prisoner can also choose to rebel: if a prisoner rebels, they can be killed. When a guard or prisoner is guard, they must wait until the next round begins to respawn.

While waiting for the next round to begin, Todd decides to go into his Steam Browser and check his Facebook. When he got on, he found in his notifications that he had gotten a new friend request from someone. He checked who it was from, and was surprised - and increasingly nervous - when he found out it was from Jenny.

He really was starting to question at this point if Jenny actually liked him...as in "like" liked him. He shook his head at that thought, thinking it couldn't be possible. He already had Maurecia crushing on him, so why would Jenny start doing the same?

He accepted her friend request, and tried not to think much of it. He thought that she probably simply wanted to add him to her friends list, nothing more. A lot of his friends, including the ones he went to Wayside with in the past, had done the same thing. Why would Jenny be any different?

He went back to his game, without closing his Steam Browser...or Facebook...in case he needed to look up something later. The next round has thankfully just began, and Todd was ready to participate in another match.

But not even 5 minutes into the round, he heard a ringing sound come from his headphones. He knew it wasn't from the game, so he checked his Steam Browser. He didn't see anything on the current site the browser was on (Google Search), then he realized he had forgotten to close Facebook, and that the sound was probably coming from there. He checked, and found - of all things - Jenny was calling him. And it wasn't just an ordinary call, it was a VIDEO chat she wanted to start.

That REALLY made Todd nervous. He was seriously starting to wonder if the odds of Jenny liking him was getting favorably high.

But, nonetheless, he accepted the call, as he didn't want to be rude.

After a few seconds of loading, the call started.

"Hey, Brother T, what's up?" said Jenny.

"Er...fine...I guess." said Todd somewhat nervously.

At this point, Todd decided to ask Jenny a question about earlier that day at lunch...he was nervous to ask her for fear of her answer, but he decided it worth a risk.

"So uh...why did you want to sit down next to me at lunch?"

"Cause you're one rad bro, my friend!" exclaimed Jenny quite loudly.

Todd was surprised. Everytime Jenny made a comment like, he thought that the chances of Jenny liking him were only increasing further and further, and he feared she'll eventually drop a comment that will 100% confirm she likes him. But why WOULD she like him, he thought? He remembered, this was the girl he THOUGHT had a crush on him back on Wayside because of her habit of jumping over him on her motorcycle...until he found out that wasn't the case, when intruded on her and Maurecia's attempt to jump over former Wayside principal Mr. Kidswatter in his personal ice skating rink. He even distinctly remember Jenny not being too pleased about it, even telling him he needs help. There was NO way she could be developing feelings for HIM...right?

"Um, well...thanks. I'm flattered," said Todd, ever so slightly blushing.

"I just wanted to call you to see what you were up to, my friend." said Jenny.

"Oh, uh, well, I was just playing a game here...a different game than the one who tried out today..." Todd said.

"Oh wow, that IS grade A+!" Jenny said.

"Umm...about today...did you really mean it when you said you wanted to hang out with me sometime?" Todd knew he was taking another risk asking this question for fear of Jenny's answer.

"Of course I did, Brother T! I don't know what it is about you, but man are you just the bomb! Any girl would be lucky to hang out with you!" Jenny exclaimed.

Todd was seriously wondering if he should keep track of the chances of Jenny liking him in percentage form. Because at this rate, he thought the chances were about 80% at this point. And it only seemed to be getting higher with every compliment Jenny made.

"Well, I'm...I'm really flattered by...by your-" stammered Todd, but then:

"HEY, JONAS67 FREEKILLED ME!"

"What was that I heard, bro T?" said Jenny.

"Uh, nothing! Just...a part of the game I'm playing. Could you excuse me for a second."

Todd quickly went back to his game of Jailbreak, and took a look at the damage logs, seeing that Jonas67 did indeed freekill Hanierlaborne.

"Hey Jonas, why did you kill Hanier? I need an answer, or I'll have to teamban you."

Jenny heard everything Todd was saying.

"Hoo boy howdy, you sure sound like a man taking charge! Do you have something special you do in this game you're playing?"

"Uhhh...uhhh...err... _leadership qualities_?" Todd said nervously.

"That sounds like a hoot! I really like people who take leadership! You my man are the bomb for sure!"

"Uh yeah...hehe...so I'm kinda busy playing this game right now...I'll see you tomorrow at school, I guess..." Todd said.

"You bet! See you then, Toddster!" Jenny said, just before ending the call.

At this point, Todd didn't know what to think. He may have a had a million thoughts running in his head before, but now his mind was just sitting still in shock.

He eventually returned to his game of Jailbreak. "Sorry for the lack of mic or chat use, I was having a Facebook call with one of my...friends."

"Oh really, what was her name?" said Jeffrey.

"Uh...here name is Jenny..."

At that moment, a player named SheldonRockztheLee89 got onto his mic:

"Jenny is here? WHERE?"

Todd scratched his head.

* * *

Todd was playing _Team Fortress 2_ for about three hours before he signed off, had dinner, took a shower, and went to bed. In spite of the events of today, he was still trying to deny he was developing feelings for Jenny. "Maybe this is a really long dream I'm having, and today never even happened yet," he thought. He decided to pinch himself to see if his theory was true. It wasn't.

Nevertheless, Todd was relieved he could go to bed, and hopefully dream of something that would let him forget about today. But, that wasn't the case.

The next thing he knew, Todd found himself on a couch in a living room that looked...wildly different than the one in his house. He scanned the room, and found a diploma hanging on the wall behind the couch. He took a good look at it, and found his name on it. It was a degree in medicine: one of the fields Todd showed interest in pursuing. Todd was confused, as he had no knowledge of ever receiving one; he was still in high school, after all!

But when he felt his chin, he discovered many hairs on it. He looked in a mirror, which was conveniently placed next to the diploma, and discovered he had a full-grown beard, AND a mustache! Sure, Todd was starting to grow some facial hair, but he didn't understand how he suddenly had facial hair all of a sudden.

However, none of this was even the most shocking part of this. Todd noticed by a conveniently placed clock another photo hanging on the wall. He went to take a look at it, and what he saw literally made him jump up in complete shock.

It was wedding pictures of him and...Jenny.

You'd think this would be any kid's greatest dream, but this wasn't the case for Todd. At this point, he was in full panic mode. He was hyperventilating, he felt like he was going to scream. This SHOULD be a wonderful dream for him, but all he could think is why he went from a high school student to...this!

Suddenly, the door creaked open, and in came Jenny.

"Hey honey, how was your day?"

"Uh...I haven't even experienced the day yet...where am I!?" yelled Todd in a panic.

"Oh, honey, you have such a sense of humor."

Todd just sat on the couch, frozen in shock.

"You know, you've done so much for me, dear..." said Jenny. This made Todd scratch his head. "I think this deserves a kiss," she said.

At that point, Todd had just sat still, completely frozen. He may have looked calm on the outside, but on the inside his emotions were running wild. He had never kissed anyone before in his life. There was that one time a couple Christmases ago, in middle school, when Maurecia made an attempt to kiss him by using a mistletoe...but Todd managed to avoid it.

Todd just stood perfectly still on the couch, with Jenny leaning in towards his lips, and as she got closer to them, his face was blushing so hard that it almost felt like his cheeks were going to explode. But just as it was about to happen...

 _ **RRRRRRRIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNGGGGGGGG!**_

Todd's alarm clock went off, and he woke up. "It was all just a dream," he thought. But at this point, he came to a realization. Yet again, his cheeks went red. At this point, there was no denying it. It was completely pointless to deny it, now even he would be in disbelief if he denied it.

He had a full-fledged crush on Jenny.

But what was he do? Then he remembered that the Pre-Spring Break Dance was coming in two weeks.

He realized what he had to do. And boy, was it going to be one of the toughest things he's ever had to do in his life.


	3. Chapter 3

**FRIDAY, 1 WEEK UNTIL THE PRE-SPRING BREAK DANCE**

Todd got off the school bus that morning, and entered the school. It was just last night he finally realized, he had a full-on crush on Jenny. After a series of...well, coincidences...he thought the chances of Jenny liking him back were rising higher and higher. He thought the chances at this point were at about 90%.

But Todd was very much nervous about it. The night before, he had thought of way to let Jenny know about this. But now, he realized, it was incredibly nerve-wracking to execute. Still, he knew it had to be done - for his own good, and whether or not Maurecia sees or hears about this.

On Fridays however, Biology wasn't until right after lunch, so Todd had some time to prepare. Still, he felt the need to tell someone about this. Thankfully, even if he didn't really hang out with them much, he was still good friends with all the kids that went to Wayside with him in the past. But, he didn't know if anytime knew what he was feeling at the moment.

Right before lunch, Todd was in Human Geography, when:

"Class, I'd like to introduce us all to a new student happily joining our class...late, I suppose, but better late than never I always say!" said the Human Geography teacher Mr. McReinstro.

Todd was kind of surprised. For the second time now, a student had joined one of his classes late. It wasn't Jenny again, was it?

"And might I add, he's also new to school. He just joined today!"

Todd at least knew now that it wasn't Jenny, thank goodness.

"I'd like to introduce you all to...Mac!"

Mac was a boy with large hands and large feet. He was pretty tall for a boy his age, measuring 6 ft. 3 in. He wore a green polo street, had a small beard starting to grow on his chin, had dark, long blonde hair, and wore a pair of blue sneakers. But this young boy harbored an embarrassing secret.

Mac wasn't even his original name...not at first. From the day he was born up until 5th grade, he was originally known as Nancy. He felt the name was too embarrassing because he thought it was girl's name, and a result became shy, turning himself into a social outcast. Then one day in 5th grade, he learned the name of his only female friend at the time, who kept anonymous until then: Mac, who was embarrassed of her original name as well, because she thought it was a boy's name. So the two decided to trade names by spinning around a hundred times until they fell over, and from that day forward they we're known as the other's original name. It was after that that Nancy was able to finally open up to the social world and made more friends than just Nancy.

Mac had just transferred to John West Primary School as his original (private) school, which he attended from 8th grade up until now, was getting too expensive for his parents to afford, so they decided it was time to send him to a public school again. One of the courses he picked for 10th grade was Human Geography, because he was greatly interested in world matters.

Todd swore he had heard or seen Mac before, but he couldn't put his finger on it. And if he did ever see him in the past, it certainly wasn't at Wayside, he thought.

"Now Mac, please kindly take your seat. I see an empty desk to the right of Todd you can sit in."

Mac took his seat next to Todd, and the lesson began. After about 40 minutes of lecturing, Mr. McReinstro handed out the day's assignment.

Everyone took to working on their assignment. About 15 minutes before the class ended (and before lunch), Todd had finished his assignment, and so did Mac. Todd decided to introduce himself to Mac.

"Hey Mac, my name is Todd. Nice to meet you."

"Hey dude. Nice to meet you too. I just transferred here from Hiram Private Academy. Was getting too expensive for my parents to afford. How is this school, in your opinion?" asked Mac.

"Really nice, actually. It's been so refreshing to be able to stay in school until the end of the day," said Todd.

"Wait, what?" asked Mac.

"Well, I went to this really weird elementary school called Wayside School a few years ago. It was 30 stories high. My 5th grade teacher Mrs. Jewls would always send me home early everyday on the kindergarten bus for rather trivial reasons." said Todd.

"Wait, what school allows teachers to send kids home early on a bus designed for 5-year-olds without the principal's consent?" questioned Mac.

"You know...I don't know. Maybe the principal there knew about it..." said a rather confused Todd.

"Hey, some girl with a ponytail told me about this upcoming dance that's happening next Friday. She asked me if I was going and if I was taking anyone. I told her I was new her so I didn't really know anyone here." said Mac. Todd knew the girl he was talking about. She was sitting in the very back corner of the room, still doing her assignment, right now.

"Oh yeah I know what girl you're talking about." said Todd.

"Yeah, she said her name was Maurecia. Err, uh...don't tell her this but..." Mac leaned into Todd's ear so Maurecia wouldn't hear from the back of the room. "...she was planning on asking this dude named Todd to the dance. I'm assuming you're this dude she's talking about."

To say Todd wasn't surprised in the slightest about this would be an understatement. He literally didn't have any real reaction, because he knew she was going to ask him to the dance at some point, considering her crush on him. The hard part was originally going to be trying to tell her he wasn't interested in going...but now it was trying to tell her he was planning on asking someone else...

"Uh, yeah...I really don't want to break her heart but I don't really want to take her...originally it was because I wasn't interested in going to that dance...I mean I'm a pretty bad dancer, in my opinion. But now, that reason has been replaced with another." said Todd.

"Oh really. What is the new reason for not wanting to go with her?" asked Mac.

"Well...I developed this crush on this girl...she wears a motorcycle suit, has beautiful blonde hair, and has an amazing smile that lights up the world." said Todd.

"Sounds pretty nice to crush on someone like that. What's her name?" questioned Mac.

"Her name is...Jenny."

"Oh, I think I know who you're talking about, based off your description of here!" said Mac. "I saw her walking through the halls this morning when I went to my first class. I have to admit, she is pretty darn good-looking. But I wouldn't go as far as to say I have a crush on her myself."

"Yeah and the problem is...I want to ask HER to the dance...it's pretty embarrassing considering I originally never even wanted to go to this dance in the first place." said Todd.

"Mhm." said Mac.

"And that's not even the most nerve-wrecking part. I think she might like me back. Two days ago, I blushed in the cafeteria during lunch, and she saw that blush. I ran out of the cafeteria rather embarrassed. The next day - yesterday - she sat down next to me at my table and asked if she could try out my Nintendo Switch. When I got home that day, she sent a friend request on Facebook and started a video chat with me. And last night I had a dream where I was married to her!" said Todd.

"Wow, that must mean you've really fallen head over heels for her. And the chances of her liking you back sound pretty high." said Mac.

"I know, and it's really embarrassing! When I was in 5th grade, I thought she had a crush on ME when she started jumping over me with her motorcycle. Well, I found out that wasn't the case, and I made a fool of myself by intruding on her jump over the school principal." exclaimed Todd. "But the problem is, the girl you told me wants to ask me to the dance, Maurecia, has a crush on me, and if I ask Jenny to this dance, I'm afraid of what she'll think."

"Oh don't worry, I'm sure she'll understand. She seemed like a pretty chill gal to me. She'd probably understand if you wanted to ask another girl to the dance." said a reassuring Mac.

"I don't know about that, to be honest..." said a worried Todd.

Just then, the bell for lunch rang, and everyone went running out of the classroom, except for Todd and Mac.

"I'm feeling really nervous now, from all sides...I don't know how I'm going to ask Jenny out in a way that I don't feel nerve-wracked." said Todd.

"Oh don't worry, I can help you. I once asked a girl to this dance in 7th grade. It wasn't anything romantic, though." said Mac. "Do you want me to be with you when you ask her?"

"Yeah, that would actually help a lot. You know, I think you and me are going to make real good friends." said Todd.

"I'm more than inclined to agree." responded Mac.

* * *

In the cafeteria, Todd and Mac went in together, and they saw Jenny sitting at a table located next to a large window. Todd's nerves were trembling, but Mac was there to calm him.

"C'mon dude, I believe in you. Just go up to her, and say "Hey, would you like to come to the Pre-Spring Break Dance" with me next Friday?" I'm sure she'll say yes." reassured Mac.

"I know, but...I'm still nervous..." said Todd as his legs trembled.

"Don't worry dude, I'll be right behind you." Mac said.

And so Todd slowly approached the table Jenny was sitting at, his legs trembling with every footstep. Todd was at the opposite side of Jenny when he reached the table. The distance between him and Jenny at the moment was fairly decent, so Jenny didn't really notice Todd...yet. Todd took a deep breath, and began to speak.

"Hey, uh...Jenny..." he nervously asked.

"Oh hey Brother T!" exclaimed Jenny.

" _She calls you Brother T_...?" asked Mac with a whisper.

"Uh, yeah...she kinda has a southern accent..." whispered Todd. He turned his attention to Jenny. "So...uh...I came her to ask you...if...if...uh..."

"If what?" asked Jenny.

"C'mon dude, you can do this. I have faith in you." said Mac.

As Todd tried to get out what he needed to ask, many students in the cafeteria started to form a circle around Todd, Jenny, and Mac. Maurecia wasn't among that circle, but she was sitting on a table not to far away from the table everyone was circling around, so she could hear and see what was going on rather well.

"Would you...would you..." Todd got out. He almost felt like it was all he could get out at that point. His cheeks we're hot red at this point, and he was sweating...a lot.

"C'mon...get it out...please..." said Mac.

"Would...um...you..." Todd was still stammering, while Jenny sat at the table confused. He really didn't feel like he could get it out. But at last:

"... _would you want to go the...Pre-Spring Dance...with...with...me?"_ he squeaked.

Everyone in the circle oohed, while at the other table, Maurecia's mouth feel agape. Jenny sat at the table with a blank stare, which worried both Todd and Maurecia. Mac stood there, pondering on what would happen next. Maurecia crossed her fingers, hoping Jenny wouldn't say yes. But, after 10 seconds sitting at the table looking at Todd, Jenny got up from her seat and shouted.

"YES! YES! Oh yes, Todd! I'm so glad you asked me, thank you!"

Everyone in the circle cheered, Mac most of all. "Way to go dude!" he told Todd.

But Maurecia was like the odd student out. She wasn't cheered. She just looked at the circle with an empty stare, trying to take in what she just witnessed. Did Todd really ask...someone OTHER than her to the dance? Slowly, she was starting to develop a sense of jealously. However, she knew she would feel bad if she ever did get jealous. Jenny was her good friend, for crying out loud! And friends support each other no matter what.

Todd could almost sigh a breath of relief at this point, but was still somewhat nervous. What was the dance going to be like? He wanted to make sure everything went perfect for him and Jenny.

As the cheering slowly died down, Jenny said something else that caused a bunch of eyes to flare wide open, including Mac's.

"In fact, I think you and me should have a special hangout this weekend to get more acquainted with each other before the dance!"

"...special...hangout?" asked Todd. His nerves were starting to flare up again. He didn't exactly know what Jenny meant by "special hangout".

"You and me, tomorrow evening, need to spend some time with each other on a date!"

Everyone cheered wildly, Mac especially...except for Todd and Maurecia. Maurecia's jealously only grew stronger at this point. She thought **maybe** Todd only wanted to ask Jenny to the dance as a friend, and nothing romantic would happen between the two. But at this point, it was becoming more and more apparent something romantic might flare up between the two.

Todd, on the other hand, didn't know what to think...he had been shocked many times before, especially with his newfound feelings towards Jenny, but this was undoubtedly the most shocked he had ever been his life. His brain felt like it was in error mode. He just stood still, no words, no reaction.

And then, he fainted.


	4. Chapter 4

Everyone in the cafeteria looked on in shock as they saw Todd laying on the ground unconscious.

Several students didn't know what to do. Perhaps they should get a teacher, they thought? Maybe call 911? Rarely has a student ever fainted...and even more rarely, because someone asked them out on a date.

But before anyone could decide what to do about the situation, Mac stepped in.

"It's alright, everybody! I know CPR! All this young man needs is some mouth-to-mouth resuscitation!"

Fortunately for everyone, Mac had token CPR training at his old private school, so he knew what to do in cases of people fainting.

He immediately stepped up to Todd, put his mouth on his, and began breathing into it. Slowly, after about 30 seconds of breathing, Todd started to regain consciousness.

"...what...what happened?" asked Todd weakly.

"You fainted." told Mac.

"Oh...er...I fainted? Do you remember the reason why...?" Todd asked.

Mac got straight to the point. "Jenny asked you out on a date."

Todd felt like he was going to faint again, but this time he was able to control himself before he fainted onto the ground again.

"...that sounds...lovely." he managed to get out.

"Great!" exclaimed Jenny. "How bought we hang out at your place tomorrow evening, maybe watch a movie or play a game or something."

"...yeah...that sounds great. My address is 344 South Fairview..." Todd said as he slowly got up from the floor and dusted himself off. Soon after, the lunch bell rang.

"Fantastic! I'll see you tomorrow night at 7 at your place, brother T!" Jenny immediately headed up to Biology.

"Well...looks like you got yourself a date." said Mac.

"Yeah...I just hope Maurecia wasn't around to see or hear this..." said a worried Todd.

Unfortunately, Todd was wrong. Maurecia's fist hit the table she was at. It almost felt like her plans to take Todd to the Pre-Spring Break Dance had been sabotaged right then and there. She wanted to make sure nothing romantic flared up between Todd and Jenny, which gave her a devious idea; she was going to spy on them tomorrow night. Thankfully, she knew where Todd lived, because back at Wayside a few years ago, the former principal Mr. Kidswatter would always call him by his address...for whatever reason. He called him that so often that she had it memorized.

Even if she couldn't take Todd to the dance, she needed to make sure no one would steal his heart from her. Not even her good friend Jenny!

* * *

 **SATURDAY, 6 DAYS BEFORE THE PRE-SPRING BREAK DANCE**

Since there was no school today, Todd was able to sleep in a bit. He woke up a 11:00 am, brushed his teeth, and had breakfast. Then, he immediately realized that tonight Jenny was coming over for a...date.

Todd realized if he wanted to make a good impression on Jenny, one of the things he should do is dress nicely. So instead of his putting on his usual Saturday attire, he went to take a shower, put moose in his hair and deodorant on, and put on a long-sleeved 2-buttoned bluish-green polo shirt and a pair of black jeans.

Knowing he had about 8 hours before Jenny arrived, he decided to boot up his computer and spend time on it while he waited for 7:00 PM to come. The first thing he decided to was check his Facebook.

When he got on Facebook, he found he has just received another friend request. When he checked it, he found it was from Mac.

He accepted the friend request, and only about 2 minutes later, Mac sent him a Facebook call. This time, it wasn't a video chat, just a call. Todd accepted it.

"Hey dude, what's up?" asked Mac.

"Nothing so far...just waiting for 7 o'clock to arrive. Just made myself look fancy to make a good impression on her, even though I doubt she'll dress up fancy." told Todd.

"Ah you never know, she might make herself even more pretty looking to make a good first impression on you, you know." said Mac.

"Yeah...I just hope Maurecia doesn't know about this..." said Todd.

"Ah I'm sure even if she did, she won't take it to heart. She seemed like someone who could handle any situation calmly. And I must admit...she is pretty good looking. I really like her long hair." said Mac.

"Oh...maybe YOU could ask her to the dance? I hope she'd be willing to take anyone to the dance, not just me." said Todd.

"You know...that's not a bad idea. Maybe sometime from Monday to Thursday, before the dance, I'll ask her. I'm sure she'd love to go with me." said Mac.

"Yeah, hopefully her love for me doesn't blind her from letting anyone else go with her to the dance..." said Todd.

"Well, I'll see you later. Tell me how the date went tomorrow." Mac told Todd.

"I will. I'm hopeful it will turn at least...alright. See ya." said Todd. Shortly after, he ended the call, and decided it was a good time to log on to _Team Fortress 2_ and get onto the server he was an administrator for. He played for about 3 hours, then he logged off and decided to play some _Super Smash Bros. Ultimate_. After about 2 hours of that, it was about 4 P.M. He didn't really have anything to do at the moment, so he decided to take a nap, as best as he could without ruining his shirt and jeans.

* * *

Todd had slept for about 2 hours, 45 minutes before finally waking up. When he did, he realized it was 6:45 PM, and realized he had to get ready for Jenny's arrival. He hurried out of his room, grabbed some snacks and put them on the coffee table in his living room, and sat on his couch, which was in front of the door.

Unbeknownst to him, at that exact time, Maurecia had managed to sneak to his house. She hid behind a shrub that was located about 50 ft. from a window, the window in question giving her a good view of where Todd was sitting. Assuming he and Jenny would sit there, she grabbed out a pair of binoculars prepared to use them when the time presented itself.

Todd nervously waited for Jenny arrive, tapping his fingers on the couch while doing so. He had remembered what Mac told him, and was glad he had someone to reassure him that everything will be fine. It was only yesterday that Todd met Mac for the first time, but it felt like they were friends forever at this point. He hoped Mac was right about his date going well.

After about 15 minutes of him tapping his fingers on the couch feeling nervous, Todd heard his doorbell ring. He jumped up from his couch, and headed to the door. "It's now or never." he thought to himself.

He opened the door to see Jenny. Todd was shocked. Not because of Jenny, but because of her appearance at the moment.

As soon as he saw Jenny, Todd immediately was glad he dressed up fairly formally. Because to his surprise, Jenny dressed up pretty formally as well. She wasn't wearing her motorcycle suit this time around. She was wearing a skirt, not too unsimilar to the one Maurecia usually wore, and was wearing a purple sleeveless shirt, and she had put on some lavender perfume. Todd blushed at the sight of this, and the beautiful-smelling perfume only intensified his infatuation.

"Hey, Brother T! Ready to officially start this thing!?" Jenny shouted. Todd was actually starting to like being called Brother T. It had a nice ring to it.

"Yeah...I guess...so what do you want to do...?" asked Todd.

"Hmm, you know...I'm kinda in the mood for a movie. Do you have any romance movies? I really like those most of all." said Jenny.

Maurecia was outside in Todd's yard, peeking through the window through her pair of binoculars. She was getting overly concerned, as people who choose to watch romantic movies on dates tend to end up starting something romantic with the person they're watching the movie with.

"Sure, that's a great idea." Todd agreed. "Hmm...I have the 1997 Titanic movie, how about we watch that?"

"I love that movie! Let's do it, bro T!" exclaimed Jenny.

And as such, Todd popped in the disc into his DVD player. He dimmed the lights, and the two sat themselves down onto his couch as the movie began.

As the movie played, the two had a bit of small talk. One of the questions brought up, courtesy of Todd, was the whereabouts of Myron.

"So, uh...do you possibly know where Myron is right now?" asked Todd.

"Hmm...you know, good question." said Jenny. "I remember back in 8th grade he announced he was running for president of the world, but I never heard from him again. I heard from an anonymous source though that he managed to make it as far as a city in Rhode Island, I believe the name of that city started with a Q."

"Hmm, well that's very interesting." said Todd.

Maurecia, meanwhile, was getting bored sitting in a shrub watching Todd and Jenny from the window. But then she thought, maybe that's a good thing. "Maybe nothing romantic will happen between the two." She crossed her fingers, hoping at the very least it she wouldn't have to witness a kiss between the two, or worse, a full-blown make-out session between the two. That would be truly horrible to watch.

But she didn't realize she was about to witness something nearly as horrible, to her at least.

About an 1 hour and 15 minutes into the movie, Jenny was getting comfortable enough around Todd that she decided to wrap her arm around Todd's shoulders. As soon as Todd noticed this, he blushed pretty hard, but after about 30 seconds, he got comfortable with her arm around his shoulders, and did the same thing around her shoulders.

After about 50 more minutes watching the movie, the two started to feel sleepy. Todd let out a rather audible yawn, took his arm off Jenny's shoulder and gently freed his from her arm, and laid his head on the pillow to his right that was leaning on the arm of the couch. Jenny, noticing this, and almost equally as tired, scott over towards Todd.

"...hey, bro T? ...mind if you roll over onto your back?" she said.

"Uh, yeah, no problem...but why..." Todd tiringly asked.

Immediately, Jenny rested her herself onto Todd, which made him - yet again - blush. He blushed quite hard this time around, harder than when Jenny put her arm around his shoulder. Then, she wrapped her arms around Todd's neck, resting them on his shoulders. Todd kept his blush going, because no girl had ever been this comfortable around him to rest themselves ONTO him. At this point, he was 98% sure Jenny liked him as much as Todd liked her. After about a minute, he felt comfortable enough to wrap his arms around her neck and rest them on her shoulders. And before the two dozed off, Todd thought to himself, "Mac would be so proud of me if he saw this right now."

* * *

Todd's parents, who had taken the opportunity to see a movie they've been dying to see in theaters to give Todd and Jenny a chance to enjoy themselves alone, had returned home at about 11:00 PM. When Todd's mother went over to the couch, she saw Jenny laying on top of Todd, both have their arms wrapped around the other's neck rested on their shoulders. Todd's mother thought this sight was incredibly sweet, so sweet in fact that she felt like her heart was going to melt. So she grabbed a blanket and put it over the two, then phoned Jenny's mother that she would be staying the night. Fortunately, she had Jenny's mother's number in her personal phonebook, as the two had once upon a time been co-workers at the office Todd's mother currently works at, before Jenny's mother quit.

Meanwhile, Maurecia, having been incredibly bored and tired watching Todd and Jenny from the window hidden in a shrub for over three hours had fallen asleep by this point. Whereas Todd and Jenny we're having a pleasant night, Maurecia wasn't.

Immediately, Maurecia soon found herself in a mysterious arena, with nine squares separated from one another by about 2 inches each, making a 3x3 grid. Below was a pit of spikes...and the nightmare had only just begun.

" **A BRAWL IS SURELY BREWING.** " said a loud, mysterious voice. Immediately following that announcement came a series of dollar bills with Jenny's face on them. Two dollar bills would slide down two of the rows, and the cycle would repeat itself again and again. Maurecia had to quickly jump to the free row to avoid the dollar bills. The free row was always random.

Next, explosives came dropping from the sky, with one row getting all its squares bomb every two seconds. Again, Maurecia had to shift from row to row to avoid these.

Following that, the middle square fell down into the spikes, and three giant squares, with a picture of Jenny on each side, came moving out and began to move around the other 8 squares in a circle. Maurecia was in between two of them, and had to kept rapidly moving in order to avoid them.

Maurecia had made it to the south middle square when the squares disappeared, and all the other squares descended into the spikes. Two giant Jenny heads emerged, each facing one side of the square, and whenever one of their mouths opened, a giant laser would come out. Maurecia had to quickly run to the other side to avoid the lasers, but the pattern of the lasers was completely random; sometimes, one of the heads would fire a laser many times in a row.

After a minute of dodging lasers, the spikes below disappeared, and the square Maurecia was one broke. She fell down into an abyss and into a dark chasm filled with white platforms. She saw Todd at the very end of this chasm, and she thought her quest for Todd was finally complete; but behind her, Jenny was moving at a rapid pace, and Maurecia had to run and jump across the platforms to avoid her.

But, unfortunately, she wasn't prepared for one of the platforms that lied ahead; it was a long path, and on one side were fans blowing in the opposite direction. When Maurecia made it to this platform, she had no idea she had to move in the direction against the wind as she trekked that path in order to avoid getting blown of, so when she made it on, the fans blew her into the abyss below. As she fell, she could only watch as Jenny made it all the way to the end of the chasm and made it to Todd. Maurecia felt like Todd was stolen from her! As she seemingly fell into the abyss...

...she suddenly woke up in the shrub. She was relieved it was just a dream, but realized at this point that Todd was being stolen by one of her friend at this point...except...was Jenny her friend at this point?

She was still extremely tired, so she fell right back asleep...again...but at this point, she didn't know what to do about the situation...

 **UPDATE: For those who want to know what the inspiration for the last part of this chapter is, this is where I got it from:** watch?v=gSaYjJKkPW8&feature=


	5. Chapter 5

**SUNDAY, 6 DAYS BEFORE THE PRE-SPRING BREAK DANCE**

It was approximately 9:00 AM, and Mac had just gotten up. He had gotten dressed, brushed his teeth, and sat down at the kitchen table with his parents to have breakfast.

Mac grabbed himself a box of cereal and poured it into his bowl, and topped it off with some milk. As she began eating, his mother spoke up.

"So, dear, how was your first day at your new school on Friday? Are you enjoying it?" she asked.

"Oh, it's been going really good so far. Got to meet some really friendly faces there." said Mac.

"That's nice. Are you making any new friends?"

"Oh, yes, there's this really nice boy named Todd. We hit it off pretty easily our first class together, I even helped him get a date with a girl he likes."

"Ah, that's my boy. Always willing to help others when they need it." said Mac's father.

"Dear, I heard there's a pre-spring break dance coming up this Friday. Do you have any interest in going?" asked Mac's mother.

"Hmm...well, if I can find a girl to go with, then yeah, I don't see why I shouldn't." said Mac.

"Is there any girl at your new school you're interested in asking?" asked Mac's father.

"Well...there is this one girl with long hair and a nice blue skirt, her name is Maurecia. I think I'm starting to...you know, like her..." Mac began to blush. "I was thinking maybe...asking her..."

"Well, then go for it!" Mac's father said. "I'm sure she'd love to go with a boy as handsome and smart as you."

Mac blushed at his father's comment. He hoped he was right. He had just finished his cereal when he got up from the table. "Well, I think I'm going to take a walk in the park."

"Okay, dear. Make sure not to stay there too long." said Mac's mother.

"And Nancy, go sweep that girl from beneath her feet!" shouted Mac's father.

"It's Mac, dad...and thanks." Mac said. Despite having changed his name to Mac many years ago, his parents still called him Nancy. It's not that they didn't know he changed his name to Mac, it's just they liked that name more than his new one. Of course, Mac didn't like that his parents still called him that, and always tried to remind them to call him Mac. But of course they wouldn't listen.

As he began to walk towards the park, which was about a kilometer's walk from his house, he began to wonder how Todd's date with Jenny went. "Gee, I hope they had a good time." he thought.

* * *

It was about 9:30 AM, and Todd found himself opening his eyes to the sight of Jenny still sleeping on top of him, arms still wrapped around each other. He saw a blanket covering the two, and realized one of his parents must have put it over them when they came home.

"...nah...wah...Jenny?" he said in a slurred manner.

At that moment, Jenny slowly started to wake up. "...huh...wah...yeah, sweetie?" she mumbled.

Immediately, Todd cheeks flushed. Any tiredness he still had inside him evaporated right then and there without a second thought. No one had ever called him "sweetie", besides his mother...and now the girl he liked just called him that. He didn't know what to think.

"Err...uh...what did you just call me?" he nervously asked.

Jenny immediately realized what she just called Todd, and ended up doing the one thing that Todd had been doing quite frequently ever since the realization of his feelings for Jenny...she blushed herself. "Err...uh...I meant, Brother T? Sorry, that's what I meant..." she said. At that point, all of her tiredness has drained out of her. It was like that one moment was all it took to get the two up from their sleep.

Todd checked to look at the time. It was 9:34 AM. "Oh, crud! You're parents must be worried about you!" he exclaimed.

At that moment, Todd's mother came in. "Don't worry, sweetie, I made sure to phone Jenny's mother to tell her that she was staying for the night." she said.

"Err, uh...you know Jenny's mother?" Todd asked.

"Yeah, we used to work together a few years back." Todd's mother said. Todd scratched his head.

All of a sudden, Jenny piped up. "I've got an idea! You and me Brother T, should spend a day out together at Walmart! If we're gonna go to the dance together, we need to buy some good-looking attire!"

Todd blushed and gulped at this. He hadn't ever gone shopping...with a girl...a girl he liked. But before he could even say anything, Todd's mother spoke up.

"I think that's a fantastic idea! I'll call Jenny's mother to tell her you two are going out to Walmart together."

At this point, Todd knew he couldn't back down on this, as nerve-wrecking as it was. He didn't want to mess up in front of Jenny; this was the girl he liked, after all. So he agreed to the plan, and after the two had breakfast, they headed out.

Luckily, Jenny had driven her motorcycle the evening before to Todd's place. Just because she doesn't drive in the hallways of school anymore doesn't mean she stopped driving her motorcycle outside of school; it was still her preferred method of transport. Todd got on the back seat, and he and Jenny we're off to Walmart.

* * *

Meanwhile, Maurecia was still in the shrub in Todd's backyard, sleeping. She had a rough night; she had spent hours spying through the window at Todd and Jenny to see them...do nothing particularly interesting, and then she was plagued by nightmares; not just the nightmare described last chapter, but many more nightmares after that. Every time one nightmare ended, she woke up in terror, fell back asleep, and another nightmare took hold. By this point, it was about 10:00 AM, and Maurecia was ridiculously tired; her eyes we're colored a faint red and dark red blood vessels were visible on them, and she barely had any energy. She didn't even have any energy to move out of the shrub, so she just sat there and laid on the ground, exhausted.

Unfortunately for her, about 15 minutes later, Todd's mother came out to do yardwork; one of the things on her list was to remove that shrub in her yard, for it served no purpose. Well, she didn't realize the night before, it did serve a purpose...a nefarious purpose.

She grabbed her shrub trimmers and began cutting away at the shrub, until the trimmers hit something that...wasn't part of the shrub.

"Ow...! Huh...wah...who...h...hit me?"

Todd's mother was alarmed by the sudden slurred speech coming from the shrub, and when she opened it up, she saw Maurecia, exhausted, laying on the ground, and shrieked.

"GAH! What is the meaning of this!?" yelled Todd's mother.

Maurecia, as best she could, crawled her way out of the shrub. Normally, in a situation like this, she would run away as fast as she can, but she was so fatigued and out of it that she didn't even make an attempt to escape.

"Shrub...not comfortable...spent...night in there..." she got out. She was so exhausted from last night's ordeal that she didn't think about what she was saying to Todd's mother.

"You...you spent the night in there!?" asked Todd's mother loudly.

"Yeah..." Maurecia muttered out.

"I demand an explanation! I recognize you as one of Todd's friends, but he only invited Jenny over! Explain to me, young lady, what you are doing here trespassing on my property without permission from myself or my husband!"

"I know...he...Jenny...only invited..." she got out as best she could.

"So you KNEW he only invited Jenny over? Then why are you here!? Did you step into my house!?" Todd's mother demanded.

"No..." Maurecia muttered.

"So you're telling me you went into my backyard to hide in this shrub? Does Todd know about this?" asked Todd's mother.

"No..." Maurecia muttered again.

"Then why did you trespass onto here uninvited, I want to know!" demanded Todd's mother.

"Window...couch...shrub near window...view..." Maurecia slurred out.

Todd's mother was confused at first by Maurecia's choice of words, but after some deducting (Todd's mother was a rather smart thinker), she put the pieces together, and realized exactly what Maurecia's intentions were. She was horrified by this; Maurecia was SPYING on her son and his date!

"So you're telling me, you we're SPYING on my son and his date!?" Todd's mother exclaimed loudly.

"Can...explain..." Maurecia said.

"I don't want to hear any more explaining, you've told me enough! You're mother is going to hear about this!" Todd's mother angrily said.

If Maurecia could be scared about this, she would, but she was way too exhausted to even show fear.

* * *

Mac had been at the park for about a half-hour, sitting down on a nearby bench, reflecting on the new friends he's made at his new school, and how he must be a really good person if he was able to help his new friend get a date.

But, during his whole time there, he couldn't stop thinking about Maurecia. She knew she crushed on Todd, but would she be willing to take any other boy out if Todd wasn't available? Mac thought it would be nice to have a girlfriend. A few months before he moved to John West Primary School, he had developed a crush on an 11th grader, Olivia, but before he could tell her about his feelings for her, she had hooked up with one of the soccer players. And then there was his friend Nancy, who was originally known as his current name, Mac, before the two traded names. In about 8th grade, he had started developing feelings for her, but shortly after she had moved away to a new town, and unfortunately, she didn't have any social media accounts like Facebook at the moment.

It was about 10:17 AM, and Mac, bored of sitting on a bench at the park, decided to go browse Walmart instead, to pass the time. He thought maybe he could find something interesting there. He texted his mom that he was going to Walmart and headed off.

* * *

Todd and Jenny we're at Walmart in the fancy clothes section. They had already agreed and chosen out a suit for Todd (well, considering how nervous Todd was, he didn't really take the time to think about the suit...he just kinda agreed to what Jenny picked out without second thoughts), and were choosing a dress for Jenny.

The two had gone through many dresses, and finally, Jenny pulled out a blue, strapless, sparkling silk dress, which impressed both her and Todd.

"So, Brother T...what do you think?"

Todd was amazed at the appearance of this dress. He could only imagine Jenny wearing it...and he knew he could get to see wear it at the dance.

"It looks...beautiful." said Todd.

"So...do you think I should buy it?" asked Jenny.

"Try it on first...see if it fits." said Todd.

And so Jenny went into the changing room to try it on. When she came out, Todd was amazed.

The dress was a perfect fit...and Jenny looked amazing in it. Todd's cheeks blushed immensely at the sight of Jenny in that dress.

"So, how do I look?" asked Jenny.

"You look...amazing." said Todd.

Jenny giggled at that comment, and Todd could very distinctly remember that giggle. All it did was cause him to blush again, but harder.

She went back into the changing room to change into her clothes, and the two proceeded to head off to the check-out counter.

On the other side of Walmart, Mac was browsing a shelf of video games. Todd didn't know yet but Mac was also a pretty big video game fan himself, although he was more into home console games than computer games, unlike Todd. He saw an assortment of video games, all organized by console - games for the PlayStation 4, Wii U, and Xbox One. He saw game that peeked his interest - Assassin's Creed Origins for the PlayStation 4 - took the game, and went to pay for it. Luckily, he had his wallet on him - he always brought his wallet with him whenever he went somewhere other than his house or school, regardless of whether he actually needed it or not.

When he went to the nearest check-out counter, he saw Todd and Jenny in front of him.

"Oh, hey guys!" Mac said.

Todd and Jenny looked behind and saw Mac. Todd was the first to say hello. "Hey there, Mac, what are you doing here?"

"I decided to go here to buy a new video game. You guys?" asked Mac.

"Uh...well, we...I mean well, she decided...we should buy fancy attire for the dance."

"Smart thinking, you guys!" exclaimed Mac.

"Hey, Brother T, who is this? A friend of yours?" asked Jenny.

"This is Mac. Mac, this is Jenny." said Todd.

"Oh, I remember you! I saw you walking the halls one day! Nice to meet ya, Brother M!" said Jenny as she extended her hand to shake with Mac's.

"Err...yeah, thanks...but just call me Mac." said Mac as he shook Jenny's hand.

"Well...we gotta get going." said Todd. "See ya...and I hope you can come to the dance. It would be awesome to see you there." He and Jenny proceeded to head to the exit, having gotten their attire paid for.

"Yeah...heh...see ya." said Mac. Was he going to show up to the dance, though? It all depended on if he could get a girl to take.

And right now, in his list of girls to ask out to the dance, Maurecia was in the #1 spot.


	6. Chapter 6

**MONDAY, 4 DAYS BEFORE THE PRE-SPRING BREAK DANCE**

It was the start of the last week before spring break, and it was only 4 more days before the Pre-Spring Break Dance. There was much buzz about it now; announcements for it were appearing on the intercom every morning now. People were gossiping in the hallways about who was taking who...well, actually about a specific someone taking another specific someone. You'd expect people would gossip about various different people, but instead most were gossiping about Todd and Jenny.

You see, that morning, when Todd arrived to school, he saw Jenny outside the front entrance. At this point, the two had gotten pretty close, so close in fact you could consider them boyfriend and girlfriend...but Todd didn't think of it like that. Despite all the stuff he and Jenny did the past few days, he didn't think the two had advanced up to that stage yet. But what he didn't know was that Jenny had different plans.

And it started with being outside the front entrance. When she saw Todd, she offered to walk inside with him. And it wasn't just that, she also offered to hold his hand. Todd blushed at this, at this point he was almost certain - about 99% sure - that Jenny liked him back, and this was only further proving his theory. And so the two walked into the school holding hands, and most people, whom were hanging around the entrance of the building before their classes started, saw this.

And that's what people were gossiping about throughout the day. "Todd and Jenny are dating!" "Todd and Jenny are going to the dance together!" "Todd and Jenny love each other!" is basically what people were telling one another. However, they made sure Todd and Jenny weren't around when they discussed this.

Mac was in Hydroponics class when he overheard two students talking about Todd and Jenny being together. Knowing it was gossip, he didn't exactly know if what everyone was saying was true, but he wouldn't be surprised if it was. After all, he saw the two go shopping for dance attire yesterday, and they told him they had a great date the day before, so them forming a relationship seemed almost inevitable at this point. However, his mind was more focused on whether he should ask Maurecia to the dance. He wasn't gonna admit it to anyone...yet, but he was starting to develop feelings for Maurecia. However, he knew she crushed on Todd...but considering Todd was taking someone other than her to the dance, would she be willing to take anyone else...particularly him? What if she found out about his original name?

* * *

It was lunch, and Todd and Jenny we're sitting in the cafeteria together. At this point, with the amount of gossip going around about the two, it was to be expected by many people. Mac was sitting at the far end of the table they were at. He couldn't help but be glad he helped a new friend find someone to take to the dance.

Maurecia, however, who was sitting at a table at the opposite end of the cafeteria, was in a crummy mood. She had just been caught snooping into Todd's backyard without permission, and her parents weren't pleased to receive a call from Todd's mother about the incident. Her punishment was a whole week without being allowed to go out anywhere besides her house and school; mercifully, though, her parents decided to let her go to the Pre-Spring Break Dance after much begging (and promising to do extra chores, as reluctant as she was to throw that in). But being in a bad mood, she was wondering if making a compromise in order to go to the dance was a good idea, because at this point she didn't really even feel like going to the dance. She distinctly remembered her parents requesting Todd's mother that she never be allowed onto Todd's property for a long time; but she didn't know if Todd's mother agreed to it or not. With her luck, she probably did.

Maurecia felt like she had the worst luck of anyone in the world. She witnessed her crush ask one of her closest friends instead of her to the dance, she got grounded, and now she was wondering if she should even go to the dance now. All she could hope at this point was that this was a friends-only thing between Todd and Jenny and nothing romantic would happen, but with every look at Todd and Jenny together the chances of that possibility were diminishing quickly.

* * *

It was the last class of the day for Mac, Human Geography, but unlike Friday, he found it hard to concentrate on his work when his mind was on Maurecia. He wondered what it would be like to be in a relationship with Maurecia...with anyone, as a matter of fact. He had never been a relationship, but having seen many other teenage couples in the past and what they like to do, he thought it would be nice if he could do those things with a girl who loved him as much as he loved her.

Then he realized; dances often bring couples together! At this point, he knew he couldn't deny it anymore...he had a crush on Maurecia. And not only was she the girl he wanted to ask to the pre-Spring Break Dance, she was the girl he wanted to be in a relationship with. But he looked across the room to see Maurecia in the back, switching in between doing her work and glaring at Todd, who was concentrated on his own work. He realized admitting his feelings to Maurecia would be tricky, for he was afraid she might be blinded by her love for Todd and reject him. But he knew he had to do it, one way or the other.

Maurecia, however, was still thinking about Todd, and felt like Jenny was a major obstacle in her quest to have him...was Jenny her friend at this point, she thought?

Todd, meanwhile, was concentrated on his work, but he still couldn't help but think of Jenny while doing what he was assigned. He remembered in his head the things that had happened the previous few days: Jenny sat next to him at lunch on Thursday and try out his Nintendo Switch, suggested a date after he asked her to the dance (with the help of Mac) on Friday, had that date on Saturday and ended up sleeping on the couch in each others' arms, went shopping for dance attire yesterday under her suggestion, and asked to go inside with him at the beginning of school today, while holding hands. At this point, he was virtually sure she wanted their friendship to turn into something more. But he couldn't help but remember the time at Wayside she told him he needed help after he THOUGHT she had a crush on him. Did she still remember that incident?

Just then, the bell signaling the end of the school day rang. Todd immediately packed up his things and headed out to the parking lot. His house was only about 10 minutes from school, so he would usually just walk home. He had walked about eight feet into the main parking lot area when he saw Jenny, and Jenny saw him.

"Hey, Brother T! Need a ride home?" she said, offering him a seat on her motorcycle.

Todd thought about it for a second, and considering how and Jenny were practically hanging out every day ever since Thursday, he decided it wouldn't hurt to take the offer.

This being Jenny offering him the ride, Todd blushed. But this time, the blush didn't go unnoticed. It was like on Wednesday, when Jenny noticed Todd's blush. But this time, neither one of them moved. And this time, Jenny spoke up about it:

"Uh...bro T...you're cheeks...they're red..."

This only caused Todd to blush harder, out of embarrassment. At this point, he felt cornered, and that he had to admit his feelings to Jenny...he knew this time, there was nowhere to run. There was no way out of admitting his feelings this time.

Meanwhile, Mac had just finished polishing and cleaning up his locker, which was dirty when he first arrived to the school, and decided something needed to be done about it. He started walking out into the parking lot when he saw Todd and Jenny. He noticed that Todd looked nervous, his cheeks bright red. It didn't take long for him to realize that Todd was trying to tell Jenny how he feels about her. Todd looked behind him and noticed Mac standing a few feet out of the main parking lot area. Mac gave him a thumbs up and whispered "you can do this, tell her how you feel." Todd knew it was going to be the hardest confession he'd ever have to make in his life, but also knew he had to tell Jenny no matter how daunting it seemed. Even if he was sure that Jenny had liked him back considering everything that happened over the past few days, he knew it would be difficult.

There was a long silence, and then Jenny broke it. "So uh...bro T...you're cheeks...means you're blushing...in front of me?"

"Um...yes...about that...it's kinda been happening a lot...because..." Todd began to speak.

As this was going on, Maurecia, still in a crummy mood, headed out of the school, having had to finish up some work. She looked at the parking lot and saw Todd and Jenny looking at each other. "Oh no." she thought. "Is this the part where they're gonna admit their feelings towards each other?"

"I...uh...have...fe-fe-fe-...fee-..." Todd stammered.

"Come on dude, say what needs to be said." encouraged Mac from behind. Maurecia, on the other hand, was starting to get agitated by the sight of this.

Jenny stood there confused. It was almost exactly like when Todd asked her out to the dance, only to him, it felt worse. Would Jenny be willing to be his...girlfriend? A dance was a one-time thing, but a girlfriend could last a lifetime, he thought.

Finally, after nearly a minute of stammering, Todd, in the most nervous, high-pitched squeaky voice possible, managed to get it out:

" _I...(gulp)...have...fe-fe-fe-feelings...for you...if you...know what...I mean..._ "

At that moment, it felt like the whole world has just come to a screeching halt. Jenny blushed the hardest she ever blushed in her life...and that blush was more intense than any of Todd's. Mac, meanwhile, was behind them, smiling, hoping for the best, while Maurecia, farther behind, was starting to see red in her eyes.

Jenny tried to think of what to do to show Todd what she thought of him, and then she thought of it. She knew it was a daring move on her part, but she decided to go with it.

"Todd...I...uh...wow...that takes a lot of guts to admit that...you have a...crush on...me...and...uh...well..." she said.

To everyone involved, it felt like a ticking time bomb about to go off. Todd sat there, holding his blush; Mac was behind him, hoping Jenny would return the feelings; and Maurecia was behind Mac, hoping that she wouldn't.

And so, Jenny slowly approached Todd, until they were only mere inches from each other. She placed her hands on Todd's elbows, and thought to herself, "It's now or never." She delicately moved her face to Todd's, slowly closing in the distance of the two, and within seconds, her lips met his.

For everyone involved, the reactions were all over the place. Todd was taken by surprise by this kiss, but after 15 seconds he embraced it. This was the first lip-to-lip kiss he had ever received in real life, and boy did it feel nice. Jenny, seeing Todd was greatly enjoying it, further deepened the kiss.

Mac was watching, and couldn't help but give a great big smile. Todd briefly looked over to Mac, who gave him a thumbs up indicating "good job, man, you did it."

But Maurecia on the other hand, could only see fury in her eyes. She had seen many terrible things lately, but this was the final straw. She couldn't contain her anger any longer, and this time she didn't care if anyone noticed her anger. She thought it had to be done.

"STOP! ENOUGH OF THIS!" she shouted.

Todd and Jenny stopped their kiss, and turned around to see an angered Maurecia. Mac turned around shortly after Todd and Jenny and saw the same sight.

"You...you...Jenny!" Maurecia angrily shouted. "What kind of friend are you!?"

Jenny was puzzled, but Todd was getting nervous. He knew something like this might happen, and was preparing for the worst.

"Sister Mo, I haven't done anything to inconvenience you, what exactly is the problem?" she asked as politely as she could. Admittedly, she was annoyed at Maurecia's sudden outburst interrupting her and Todd's moment. Mac, meanwhile, realized this could be an opportunity to ask Maurecia to the dance, and was trying to mentally prepare himself to do so.

"You very well know I...I...I..." Maurecia was trying to say, her nerves getting to her.

"Ugh, just spit it out, Maurecia..." Todd mumbled to himself.

"...I...have...a...CRUSH...ON...TODD! And he was supposed...to be...MY DANCE DATE! Not you! Nobody claims him but me!" shouted Maurecia, who, at this point, was letting her intense love for Todd blind her from thinking about what she should be saying.

"Well he asked me, not you, and I accepted his offer! If you truly loved Todd, you would support his decision instead of trying to claim him!" Jenny yelled, her voice showing hints of herself getting angry.

Todd, fearing the two would get into a fight, started to back away. Mac, who was on the other end of Maurecia and Jenny, was getting worried. "Maybe this isn't a good time to ask Maurecia..." he thought. But he realized the dance was this Friday, and he didn't have much time to ask anyone out to it. He knew it was now or never.

Maurecia and Jenny at this point were having a back and forth argument. "What kind of friend are you!?" and "You're not supporting my decision!" were among the many things that flew out of their mouths. Todd had a bad feeling about the whole situation, so he tried to intervene and see if he could, as calmly as possible, tell Maurecia about his decision.

"Maurecia, you've got to listen to me, okay?" he began to speak. "I realize you have feelings for me. Most of us have feelings for someone, regardless of how late in life it comes. But, you gotta understand, okay...I like you, as a friend. But "like" like you? How do I put it...it just...I see you as a friend more than a "girl"friend." he said as he made air quotes in the air with his fingers. "I have feelings, okay? But they're towards Jenny...and no one can control the feelings of others except themselves...I understand you're love for me but with me...going out..." he said with a gulp. "...with Jenny, it isn't going to work out with you and me. I hope you can understand."

Todd was really hoping Maurecia would understand what he just said...but unfortunately for him, that wasn't the case. Maurecia's love for Todd had blinded her from taking in what he just said. She didn't even take a moment to think about what he just said, as soon as she realized she was turning him down for someone else, she got teary-eyed. She put her hands over her face and began sobbing hysterically. Todd and Jenny could easily her, and so could Mac.

"Maurecia...please..." said Todd, but before he knew it she ran off crying...that is, until:

"Maurecia, wait!" yelled Mac. "I need to talk to you!"

Maurecia had temporarily stopped, agitated that she had been interrupted, but she decided to give in...but she wasn't very pleasant about it. "What do you want!?" she exclaimed in an angry tone.

"Um...well...I saw Todd put you down as gentle as he could...I'm sorry things won't work out between you two, but..." Mac began to say.

"You were WATCHING this whole thing!?" Maurecia angrily yelled. "YOU CREEP!"

"Maurecia, please, I know you feel upset about this, and I know how badly you want to go to the dance. Would you be willing to take anyone else if they asked you?" Mac asked, starting to get nervous.

"What are you talking about?" a still annoyed Maurecia said.

"Would...you...like...to...take me to...the dance?" Mac stammered.

Maurecia didn't even take time to think about his offer. It wasn't even a second after Mac asked her before she began hysterically crying again.

"My life is OVER! Todd was supposed to take ME to the dance, but he's taking my...so-called..."FRIEND!"" Maurecia shouted. Jenny heard this, and she was getting upset about that comment.

"But, Maurecia, would you like..." Mac began to speak, but an angry and sad Maurecia interrupted him.

"NO! JUST GO AWAY!" she shouted.

"But...does that mean..." Mac asked.

"GO AWAY, YOU'RE JUST AS MISERABLE AND CRAZY AS THOSE TWO!" Maurecia shouted loudly. "I don't see why anyone WOULD go with a creep like you! You don't deserve anyone, and you ESPECIALLY don't deserve me!" Maurecia was very clearly upset at Mac for eavesdropping on her rejection. And before anyone knew it, she ran off.

Mac looked down to his shoes. The smile he had during Todd and Jenny's moment was now a frown. He had just fully realized his feelings for Maurecia and got rejected. He never knew what rejection felt like...until now. All he could do was sit on a curb and just stare at the pavement. Todd went over to comfort him.

"Jeez bud, I'm sorry she did this to you..." Todd said.

"Thanks man...I'll be fine..." said Mac with a depressed tone to his voice. Clearly, he knew he would not be fine. He didn't know if he would ever be fine again. Slowly, he got up, and starting slowly making his way home.

Jenny walked over to Todd. "C'mon, I think we should head out."

"But what about Maurecia...and Mac?" asked Todd.

"Forget about that girl. I didn't even know she had this intense jealous side of her that she's been hiding...but after what I just witnessed, she isn't our friend anymore. If she was our friend, she'd support us, not angrily confront us about this. And I'm hopeful that Mac dude will feel better soon..."

"Yeah, me too..." said Todd.

"Well, I think it's time to head home...Boyfriend T..." said Jenny.

Todd was taken by surprise. "What...did you just call me?" he asked.

"Well, we just...both...admitted our feelings...right?" Jenny said.

"Yeah...I guess so..." said Todd.

"Well, are we...boyfriend and...girlfriend...starting now?" asked Jenny.

Todd thought about it for a moment, then came to an agreement. "Yeah, you know what? We are."

And this would kick off new chapters in the lives of all parties involved in this..."incident". One half would experience true love, the other half heartbreak.


	7. Chapter 7

**TUESDAY, 3 DAYS BEFORE THE PRE-SPRING BREAK** **DANCE**

With the pre-Spring Break Dance approaching ever so quickly, Todd entered the school on this fine day...with slightly mixed feelings.

Just yesterday, he witnessed an argument between Jenny and Maurecia, the latter of whom stormed off and rejected his new friend Mac in a harsh tone. All of this was prompted by revealing his feelings towards Jenny, who responded by...kissing him.

After that rather wild incident, neither him nor Jenny could deny at this point that the two were pretty much boyfriend and girlfriend at this point. Considering all the events between the two that had happened the previous few days, it was pretty much 100% confirmed the two were dating.

Todd was happy about the events of the previous days...almost all of them. "I have a girlfriend now..." he thought. He had gotten his first lip-to-lip kiss, too. The dance was only in a few days but he knew that if all went well, he and Jenny would probably be a thing up to the end of high school, and maybe even beyond that.

But at the same time, he couldn't help but think about Mac, and how Maurecia's harsh rejection of him must have severely hurt him emotionally. Whenever he saw Mac that day, it wasn't his usual, laid-back, chipper self. This time, Mac felt like a depressed wreck. And Todd thought Maurecia probably even didn't care about how badly she hurt someone.

Todd asked Mac if everything was okay and if he needed help with anything, but Mac insisted he would be fine. But Mac knew he wouldn't be fine...all he wanted now was to be left alone.

It was very apparent that Mac was feeling severely down, because he had a hard time concentrating on his work in any of classes. All he could think about is how the girl he crushed on rejected him...and not in a gentle manner, either. Mac's teachers will all very concerned about him, and asked him if he was feeling alright. Just like with Todd, Mac would insist he was feeling fine...but he wasn't. He didn't think he'd ever feel fine again.

And it wasn't just his concentration on work that was affected. It had affected his appetite as well. At lunch, Mac would normally eat a nice, good meal, but this time, he barely ate the apple his mother packed in his lunch, and nothing else. But the ordeal did make him feel very thirsty, so much that not only did he drink his juice box faster than normal, but he found himself repeatedly excusing himself to get drinks of water from the water fountain.

It was the end of the day, and Mac was heading out of the school into the parking lot, when Todd caught up to him.

"Hey, bud, hope you're feeling better..." said Todd sympathetically.

"Yeah...I guess I am...a little...so what are going to do when you get home?" asked Mac depressingly.

"Well, Jenny really wants to see this movie in the theaters with me, so that's where I'm going to be tonight." said Todd.

"Okay...well...take care I guess..." said Mac.

"Yeah, you too..." said Todd as he walked off.

Mac wasn't feeling right. He wasn't very hungry, but he was still incredibly thirsty...and down. He was very low energy, and he decided that he needed to drink something that will give him an energy boost. So he decided to go to a local coffee shop. He texted his mom that he was going to grab a coffee and that he'd be home by about 5:30.

Mac reached the coffee shop, and thankfully he found the line wasn't very long. He though to himself as soon as he got some caffeine in his body, he would at least be a little more high-energy, if still feeling somewhat depressed.

While waiting to place his order, he looked around the shop and noticed, at a table in the far right corner, two familiar faces from his old private school. The names of these boys were his friends, Calvin and Dameon, who still attended the private school he used to go to. He had befriended the two in an art class during 8th grade, and until Todd, they were his only two friends, and they used to hang out together regularly. The three still kept in contact with each other on Facebook, and Mac found these two to be his most trustworthy friends; as such, they were the only two he was willing to tell his original name, but they agreed to call him by new name.

Calvin was a boy with a big round face and who wore long pants and a short-sleeved coat. He was starting to grow a goatee, was about 5 ft. 10 in., and had a tattoo of a potato on his left ankle, which he got in 5th grade. Dameon was a young boy with hazel eyes, slightly taller than Calvin but not as tall as Mac, was growing a beard, and wore a checkered black-and-white long-sleeved shirt.

Mac had placed his order and received his coffee. He started walking over to where Calvin and Dameon were sitting when the two noticed him.

"Hey, Mac! Been a couple weeks since we saw each other! Come over here and sit with us!" exclaimed Calvin.

Mac walked over to his two friends' table, put down his coffee, which was nice and hot with a bit of cream and milk sprinkled in, and took his seat.

"Hey, guys...how are you doing?" Mac asked his two friends.

"It's been going really well, glad you asked!" Dameon said. "Me and Calvin have been working on a project in art together, and it's coming out real nice. How's your new school been?"

"Oh, it's been good...in general..." Mac said. He was still feeling low-energy, but then again he hadn't taken a sip of his coffee yet.

Calvin and Dameon didn't take long to notice that something was wrong with Mac. He wasn't the laid-back, chill boy they used to hang out with regularly. They knew something was up with their friend.

"Is there something wrong? You seem kinda down." asked Dameon.

These being his two closest friends, Mac felt a little more comfortable explaining his situation. He hoped they would stay close friends, even if they couldn't hang out as regularly as they used to due to Mac transferring schools.

"Well, I made friends with boy named Todd, who I helped get a date with this girl he really liked. There was this girl who liked Todd who I've taken a liking to now." Mac explained.

Just as Mac was starting to explain what had happened to him to Calvin and Dameon, unbeknownst to him, Maurecia, who was still in a crummy mood from everything she had to endure over the past couple days, had entered the shop. She was supposed to go straight home as that was part of her punishment, but she had made an agreement with her parents before she headed out of school to do tonight's dishes if she could at least stop by for something to eat, as she had still been feeling hungry even after having eaten lunch a few hours ago. Her parents thought about it, and eventually decided they would make this an exception this time around. Mac had never noticed Maurecia entered, as he was busy explaining his situation to his two friends. Thankfully, Maurecia hadn't overheard their conversation...yet.

"That's really rad, dude. He must be so thankful of you. And good on you for finding someone you like." said Dameon.

"Yeah, and I tried to ask her to this upcoming dance this Friday...but she was so upset about my friend Todd taking someone else to the dance that she...harshly rejected me..."

Maurecia had just gotten her food when she picked up on the words "Todd" and "rejected", and recognized the voice who had tried to ask her to the dance the day before.

"I'm sorry to hear that, dude...is that what's making you feel down today?" asked Calvin with a tone of sympathy for his friend.

"Yeah...and...and..." Mac, at this point, was starting to have tears form in his eyes. After a minute of stammering, he put his head down onto the table and began quietly crying.

"...I don't think I'll ever be fine again! I feel hopeless now!" he got out.

"Aw man, it's gonna be alright, it's just one dance...and I'm sure you'll find some other girl who probably would like you back." Dameon said as he tried to comfort his friend.

"...you don't understand! I wasn't just a minor crush, I really liked her, I thought she looked beautiful, and I thought she was nice, and I was hoping she would be willing to put aside her crush on Todd and go with me...but no! She was blinded by her love for that boy and rejected me in the worst way I could possibly imagine!" Mac exclaimed, his voice starting to get hysterical.

And unknown to the three, Maurecia had heard them, but she didn't want the three to notice her, so she went to the farthest table away from them, on the other side of the shop, behind the main counter. However, she could hear their conversation better in the girls' bathroom, for there was only a wall that separated it from Mac and his friends' table. And so he went into the bathroom to tune in into what they had to say...and she was shocked to discover that this boy had honest feelings for her.

"It's alright, dude...honestly, if she's going to do that to you, I'd say try to move on from her and find another girl." said Calvin.

"...but...I still harbor feelings for her and I don't know what to do..." cried Mac quietly.

"I'm not trying to make you feel worse or anything, I'm really not, but honestly, if she's going to let her love of this Todd boy blind her, regardless of who has feelings for who, I don't think she's worth your time. You deserve better than someone like her. You deserve a girl that will treat you with respect, and if by chance any other girl were to reject you, hopefully they won't be as rude as this girl." said Calvin.

"Yeah...I guess...but I honestly don't think I'll ever recover from this...my heart has been shattered into a million pieces, and I don't know if it can ever be repaired." said Mac, sniffling.

"Wow, he must have really liked this girl..." said Dameon.

Little did they know that Maurecia heard everything from inside the girls' bathroom. She herself was starting to get teary-eyed now. It was then she realized her obsessive love for Todd had ruined her life in a way that she herself didn't know if she could fix. She had gotten grounded, probably lost her friendship with Jenny, and rejected a boy who was just trying to kindly ask her the pre-Spring Break Dance and shattered his heart, all because her crush on Todd blinded her. She felt horribly guilty for everything she had done, and she thought whoever Mac was interacting with was right. So she ran out of the bathroom and out of the shop crying.

"Er, what was that?" Calvin asked. The three looked at the door to the shop, but by then Maurecia was long gone, and they hadn't even noticed her.

"...eh...must have been someone sad about...something I guess?" questioned Dameon.

Mac decided to take a few sips of his coffee, and after about a minute, he was starting to feel a little better.

"So is there anything outside of school you guys have been doing, before or after?" asked Mac. He still had a somewhat depressed tone to his voice, but it wasn't nearly as bad as before.

"Yeah, we signed up to help aid elementary school children about two weeks ago. They were looking for students from all across this area's high schools to help out at the the elementary schools. You know, be like teen CEAs. It's been going really well, actually, it's giving us nice credits towards our graduation." said Dameon. "We help from 7:30 AM-9:15 in the morning every Wednesdays and Fridays."

"What school are you guys helping at right now?" asked Mac.

"It's called Wayside School." said Calvin.

Mac had heard of that school. It was the school that Todd went to and told him about. "I've heard of that place, my new friend Todd said he went there for elementary school. How is it there?" Mac asked.

"It's weird, man...like, it's the weirdest school I've ever seen in my life. There's like 30 stories...well, 29 actually, because I don't remember seeing a 19th story, this weird lunch lady who makes this weird-looking gunk called Mushroom Surprise, an ice skating rink, no elevators for this tall of a building, and cows are everywhere!" exclaimed Calvin.

"Don't cows roam just about every school in this area?" asked Mac. He wasn't wrong. Even at this old private school, he would see cows walk around the halls. The only thing it made him think was that this area sure has a problem with cows.

"I don't remember..." said Calvin.

"Do you tutor multiple classes, or is there just one specific class you help tutor?" asked Mac.

"Right now we've been mainly helping out with the teacher on the top floor, Mrs. Jewls. I have to admit, she's really pretty-looking. It's too bad I can never be with her, she's probably married." said Dameon.

"Are the students well behaved?" asked Mac.

"For the most part, yes. There is this one student named Terrence though, who doesn't want to partake in anything in the class and has poor relationships with the other students. He's always getting his name put on this thing called the DISCIPLINE list, then later I see Mrs. Jewls put a check next to his name when he does something wrong again, and then he does something wrong AGAIN and Mrs. Jewls then circles his name, and he has to go home early on this kindergarten bus. I think he's supposed to be in 8th or 9th grade or something like that, but because he never does any work he's always getting held back." explained Calvin.

Mac swore he heard of this thing called the kindergarten bus from someone, but he couldn't put his finger on who told him about hit. "It might come back to me sometime." he thought to himself.

"Hey, our third student aid, Jason, texted me telling me he wasn't going to be able to make tomorrow because he had a doctor's appointment at 8:30. He said he's going to need someone to fill him in." said Dameon with his phone in his hand.

"Say...maybe you could fill in for Jason, Mac?" asked Calvin. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind, even if you didn't sign up. You're just going to be substitute. I'm sure helping out elementary school kids for an hour and a half wouldn't be so hard. But if you do agree, just watch out for Terrence."

Mac didn't think it was a bad idea. It would help him get his mind of Maurecia, he thought. After having drank half of his coffee by now, he was feeling a little more perky. "Yeah, I'm up to the idea." he said. "I'll ask my parents when I get home."

"Yeah, dude! We can finally hang out again! And maybe if you like it, you could sign up yourself and be a full helper!" said Calvin excitedly.

Mac didn't think it would be a bad idea. If he enjoyed the job, he could sign up to be a permanent member, he thought. It would be a good learning experience, and it would help him keep his mind away from Maurecia. And it did work with his schedule, as all the high schools started at 9:45 AM.

Mac decided to head out, and took his coffee with him. "Well, guys, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, totally! Take care!" said Dameon.

Mac didn't think being a temporary student aid would be some extraordinary exciting, but he thought it could be fun. But what he didn't know, was that there was something involving Wayside, Maurecia, Todd, and Jenny he didn't know about.


End file.
